


Thin Ice

by Innocent_tailor



Category: B: The Beginning (Anime)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Lily is oblivious, Resolved Sexual Tension, Undercover, Vacation, Winter, but so is keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-04-29 12:15:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innocent_tailor/pseuds/Innocent_tailor
Summary: When Keith and Lily are assigned to a difficult case, they have no other choice but to suck it up and follow orders.OrThe one where Keith and Lily have to pretend they're dating in order to interview possible witnesses to a murder.(Mature for possible nsfw themes in later chapters)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm aware that this is hot garbage, but this is my first fic so any feedback is greatly appreciated. This is not Beta read so again, if you find any errors in spelling or grammar, please let me know! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

The mission Keith and Lily were working wasn't supposed to be very difficult. A seemingly open and closed case of a jealous husband drowning a cheating wife in a lake by their vacation home. The problem was that the lake was now frozen with the frost of winter. 

This wouldn't normally be much of a problem, but the body was still under the ice of the lake. It had floated a little ways away from the hole she had been thrown into so it was taking a bit of time to fish her out. She was face down in the water, just barely visable through the ice. 

Keith and Lily were standing on the bank, waiting for the coroner to finish recovering the body. They had to break out their heavy uniform coats for this case, lest they freeze to death. It was the middle of November up in the mountains so the temperature was bound to be in the negatives.

"I'm sure the body will still be here when the lake thaws out. Why can't we just come back when it's warmer?" Lily half-heartedly joked. Her complaining had been a constant noise in Keith's ear ever since they had arrived. Not that he didn't kind of agree with her, because it was way too cold to be standing on a frozen lake in the middle of nowhere. 

They hadn't even been there 10 minutes yet and he was absolutely frozen. "You won't hear me arguing with you, but you can thank Eric for this one, Lily," he grumbled. Apparently, they had been specifically selected for this case. Keith didn't really know why and he didn't particularly care. He just wanted to get it over with.

"Ugh, why do I always get stuck with the cases nobody else wants?" Lily walked over to mark some piece of evidence on the ground. "Did they find out where the husband went at least?" They had yet to locate either the husband or the assumed boyfriend, and seeing as how the husband withdrew a considerable amount of money from his bank account just a few days prior, he was the number one suspect.

"Not yet. The patrol officers are checking with the nearby transportation offices for any leads."

"Good idea. If he's guilty, he'd want to get out of here as fast as possible." 

"So where exactly is the the body now?" Keith started taking note of anything that looked out of place. Not that there was much to go on though. The snow and wind had covered up any potential evidence on this side of the ice. 

"It's near the edge over there. We wanted to wait until you guys got here to bring it up though. Just in case."

Keith brushed past the recovery group and headed to where the man had pointed. Lily had to jog to catch up to him. There was a large hole in the ice closer to the edge, presumably, where she had been pushed in. Keeping a good distance away from it, the two tried to collect as many clues as they could. 

"I actually kind of know this area," Keith broke the silence. "There's a cluster of small vacation cabins about a quarter mile away through those trees." He pointed to a dense cluster of trees not far from where they were standing. 

Ignoring why exactly Keith knew this place so well, Lily asked, "Do you want to see if maybe someone is staying in one of them? They might have seen what happened, or even heard something."

"We might as well. I think we've collected just about all we can here." Giving the okay to remove the body from the ice, Keith started walking. "Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again with content nobody asked for.

As soon as they walked through the cluster of trees, they spotted about 13 or 14 cabins, all ranging in size. They also saw a rather large building off to the side. It was made out of the same kind of wood as the cabins and had a hand carved sign in front of it saying, Langdon Lodge. Assuming it was the main part of the establishment, they started walking towards it. 

Arriving at the presumed main building, they stepped inside. It really did look like a great place to go on vacation. The main building had it's own restaurant and several ball rooms to hold any special occasions their guests might host. The dining room was spacious, big enough to hold at least 100 people easily. Not that there were that many people around today. 

Just looking around, they could see a few guests enjoying the lounge fireplace. Lily could hardly blame them. It did look rather cozy, and if she wasn't working a case she would most definitely be curled up on one of those chairs. She was starting to consider taking her own vacation here.

Keith and Lily approached the front desk and ring the bell that was sitting on the counter. 

"Hello there. May I help you?" A young lady stepped out from the office behind the desk. 

"Yes, actually. We're with the RIS and were wondering if you could answer a couple questions for us." Lily was the one who spoke up, Keith being content to just observe from the background. Lily politely showed the woman her badge. 

"Of course," the young woman smiled. Her name tag read Susan. "If you don't mind, we could go into the back office so as not to disturb the guests."

"Not a problem." They followed Susan into the office and shut the door behind them. 

"Now, what can I do for you, officers?"

"We were actually just wondering if we could speak to some of your guests about what happened a few nights ago," Lily explained. "Mrs. Manning was found in the lake this morning, and the whereabouts of Mr. Manning are still unknown. We wanted to see if maybe anyone saw anything suspicious."

Susan smiled a bit sadly as she looked down and said, "I had heard the rumors, but I didn't want to believe them. The Mannings were such lovely people." 

"You knew them?" Lily was surprised considering the Mannings were not personally staying here.

Susan looked back up to Keith and Lily. "Yes, I did. Anytime we would hold public events, the Mannings would always try to be here. If they were vacationing, that is. They were such social people. I can't believe something like this has happened," Susan said.

Lily nodded, feeling a bit sad herself. It was always a hard investigation when the victim was a decent person. 

"As for your request, I'm afraid we can't allow you to interrogate our guests. Our cabins are very expensive to rent out, and our customers expect a certain level of privacy." She shook her head and further explained. "If it were up to me I would have no problem with it, but our owners have made matters like this very clear." She scoffed, looking down. "You would think since there was a death, the old badtards would make an acception. Especially for one of the Mannings. I am truly sorry, but since the body was not technically found on their private property, you have no legal claim to our guests unless the owners agree."

"We understand. Sorry for troubling you," Lily said as she and Keith stood to leave.

"No trouble at all. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you."

Walking back to the car, they discussed possible options.  
"Maybe we could wait for them all to leave the grounds and question them then?" She would admit, that had sounded way better in her head. "Or try to get a warrant?"

"We don't know how long they're all staying here. Some may even spend all winter up here," Keith reasoned. "And a warrant could take weeks. By then, the ones who don't plan on spending all winter here would most likely already be gone."

"I suppose you're right, but I'm not sure what else we can do."

"Let's just tell Eric everything and he can decide what we do from here."

"Sounds like the best plan we have."

Arriving at the car, they called Eric on his cell phone.  
"Hello?" He sounded a bit surprised. 

"Eric. It's Keith. We've run into a bit of a problem with our investigation."

"Ok? Explain."

After Keith got done explaining the entire situation, Eric was silent for a moment. "I understand. Now, I may have a solution, but I doubt you two are going to like it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, let me know what you thought and if you found any mistakes. Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter has arrived! As always, tell what you thought of it, and let me know if there are any mistakes!

"This is such a stupid idea. What are we going to do if Susan won't let us stay here? She knows we were investigating this case." Lily made a good point. It's not like they could go completely undercover for this one. 

"It's the only option we have at this point," Keith sighed. He didn't like this any better than Lily. "We're technically on vacation so we're 'off duty'. Maybe we can tell her we chalked it up to an accident and closed the case." Keith was going to kill Eric if he didn't get paid overtime for this. Although, he did allow them to use the work credit card for any expenses they encountered during this case, Keith still wasn't too happy. "Anyway, she sounded like she didn't really agree with the owners' stance on this particular situation, so maybe she'll let it slide regardless." Keith was a little wary on if they could actually pull this off or not. He wasn't very good at acting, and Lily made things difficult on a good day.

"Ok. Thats all well and good, but there's something else too." Lily hesitated before continuing, "How are we supposed to make people believe we're dating? Let alone celebrating our 1st anniversary." Lily brought up another good point with a slight blush on her face.

This was the one detail out of everything that made Keith the most uneasy. "We can discuss everything once we settle in. Right now, I just want to warm up a little and maybe get something to eat." He really couldn't think straight when he was half frozen and starving. Once they got to their cabin, they could set some ground rules for this whole thing. 

Walking into the main lodge once again, they noticed it was a little busier than this morning. It was around dinner time so there was bound to be more guests around. All the guests really did look like wealthy people. Tailored suits and fancy blouses were everywhere, despite the late hour. Lily felt a little out of place in her t-shirt and jeans.

They got to the main desk and were surprised to see another young woman manning the counter. This simplified things for them only slightly. "Hello there," the young woman greeted. She was a bit younger than Susan, but just as peppy. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Her name tag read Liz.

Lily decided that she should take the lead and speak. "Hello, Liz! Actually, we were wondering if you happened to have any vacant cabins. Me and my boyfriend here were in the area for work and we thought this looked like a good place to spend our 1 year anniversary." Lily smiled, acting as if the admission was something she was proud to be sharing. 

Might as well make it believable, she thought as she looped her arms through one of Keith's. Hopefully, he won't embarrass her too much about this later.

"Of course! I'd be happy to check." Liz started typing into the computer, presumably checking on their vacant cabins. "By the way, congratulations on your anniversary! It's always nice to see happy young couples come through here." 

"Thank you so much," Lily laughed. "It seems like its been a lot longer with this old stick in the mud," she added as she tugged on Keith's arm a bit in a teasing gesture. 

He looked like he was going to explode his face was so red. She would have to tell him about that later. His chronic blushing might just blow their cover, but maybe they could tell people he was just really shy with public affection or something.

Liz laughed politely and said, "Well, lucky for you it looks like we do have one available cabin for tonight. How many days will you two be staying with us?" 

That made Lily pause. She hadn't really thought about that. They didn't know how long it would take to solve the case, so she didn't know what to tell her. Panicking slightly, she tried to think of an answer quickly.

"How long is the cabin available?" Keith spoke up, tightening his arm around hers briefly. He probably sensed her uncertainty. He was good with stuff like reading people and paying attention to details. Lily missed most of the things he would pick up on. "We're not really sure how long we will want to stay. We're taking a rather long vacation from work."

Liz listened before messing with the computer once again. "If you want to stay for an extended amount of time we may have to move you to a new cabin at some point, but we will definitely have the availability. Is that alright with you?"

"That's fine. We don't mind at all," Lily spoke again. She was thankful for the save, but she didn't want Keith to ruin their charade. Looking at him and trying to recreate a smile one would give to a lover, she asked, "Do we, honey?"

"Not at all." Surprisingly, Keith's face wasn't the color of a fire truck. Instead, he looked at her and smiled back slightly. That was unexpected, but Lily was just happy that he was playing along. 

Maybe this whole thing will work out after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh precious Lily don't be so naive...  
> Lol let me know if you liked it! (Or didn't like it) feedback is always welcome!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlemen, another trash chapter from the trash queen herself! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!

After they got done filling out all the necessary paperwork, they were handed their keys. Cabin 8. 

"Is there anything else I can help you two with?" Liz smiled as she filed the papers into their respective places.

"No, thank you. You've been such a huge help already. I think we can handle everything from here." Lily grabbed the keys and handed them to Keith. Knowing her she would probably lose them as soon as she sat them down.

"Well, if you do need anything throughout your stay, feel free to let us know. I hope you two have a great anniversary," Liz said. 

Keith and Lily had started walking to the door."Thanks again!" Lily waved back to the woman, and then they were on their way. 

They arrived at their assigned cabin and pulled their bags out from Lily's car and headed up the stairs. Remembering that Erik gave them permission to use their work credit card, Lily started wondering about the room service. They would have to buy groceries later. It was too late to go out now, and she was starving. She could only imagine Keith felt the same. Plus, if she was stuck pretending to date Keith for who knew how long, she practically deserved a nice meal.

Opening the door, the first thing they noticed was how warm the cabin already was. They shut the door quickly and just stood there for a second, absorbing some heat into their frozen bodies.

It was a beautiful place and Lily was actually a little excited to be on somewhat of a vacation. She'd never stayed anywhere near this expensive before. Walking into the living room, she saw a loveseat sitting in front of a small TV. She doubted there was any cable out here and figured they had it there for the ancient DVD player that was sitting beside it. Noting the small guest book on the coffee table, Lily continued exploring.

The kitchen was small, but it was nice. There was more than enough room for two people to stand in there comfortably, and that was all the space they really needed. Maybe Lily would try to cook something for them. She wasn't a bad cook. She just didn't have the spare time to really expand her knowledge in the kitchen.

Maybe I could convince Keith to cook that weird dish again. It wasn't half bad. 

Stepping back out into the living room, she noticed a small dining room off to the side. Walking closer, she saw a small table set up with two glasses and a bottle of champagne. There was also a card that read 'Happy Anniversary!'

"I kind of feel bad for lying now. Everyone we've met so far has been really nice. She must have had someone sneak this in here while we were filling out the paperwork." Lily smiled as she picked up the bottle, opening it. She took the glasses and poured a little bit in each one. "Here. It might help you warm up a bit," she said handing a glass to Keith. He accepted the glass and took a small sip before making a face.

"I don't really like champagne," he grumbled, "but after today I think I could use the drink." 

"I think I agree with you, Keith Flick," Lily said before taking a sip of her own. It wasn't that bad. 

Keith had been a little quieter than usual, and Lily assumed it was because of the turns this case had already taken. She understood really. He was a private person on his best days and suddenly having to share most of his time with another person had to be unwelcome news at the very least.

Sighing, Lily decided to head upstairs. She was silently dreading this part because she knew all the cabins were one bedroom. That meant one bed. Maybe they could rotate on who slept where. At this point, she was so tired that they could share the damned thing for all she cared. 

Walking up the stairs, she saw that the bathroom was up here as well. Peaking in, she almost dropped her champagne glass. It was gorgeous. Or about as gorgeous as a bathroom could get. The bathtub was huge and looked as if it was brand new. There was a glass shower on the far side of the bathroom. One of the ones where you could change the settings so it was like you were standing under rain. Lily almost wanted to test it out right then and there. 

"Huh. I suppose this is why this place is so expensive."

Lily whirled to find Keith leaning against the door frame, studying one of the modern sinks. 

Lily smiled. "You sound like an old man, Keith. Besides, for not having to pay a penny, this isn't too bad."

Keith scoffed and stood up straight. "Well, I guess we should see if the bedroom has a couch or something I can sleep on." He turned and started towards the bedroom, expecting her to follow.

As surprised as she was, she did just that. Coming up behind him and seeing the bedroom over his shoulder, she saw that there was a small couch nestled into the corner of the room. It didn't look very comfortable though. "You know, we can rotate on who gets the bed, Keith. I'd feel guilty hogging it all to myself. Plus, I don't really mind sleeping on the couch."

Sighing, Keith only nodded before turning. "We should head back downstairs and order something from room service before the kitchen closes. Anything would be good at this point really."

Agreeing, they both headed back downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, let me know what you thought! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! 
> 
> Chapter 5 is in progress and should be posted soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have no idea how many chapters this is going to turn out to be. All the chapters so far have been really short so I'm thinking I need to lengthen them to get any real content in there. Anyway, take my trash and enjoy it!

Flipping through the guest book, Lily found the menu for room service. She was so hungry she could eat one of everything on the menu, and she wasn't shy in saying so. "Mmm, everything looks so good right now. I can't decide." She looked up at Keith, who was standing behind the chair she was sitting on so he could also see the menu. "What are you getting?" He was closer than she originally thought. He must've leaned in to see his choices a bit better.

Either not noticing the proximity, or not caring about it, Keith thought for a moment before answering, "beef stew." He stood back up to his full height and started stretching his back and legs, bones popping occasionally. Lily couldn't help but notice how tall he really was. She was used to him slouching all the time. Turning back to the menu, Lily decided she absolutely did not care about Keith's height. Nope. Not one bit.

"Have you decided yet?" Keith startled her out of whatever thoughts she was having. She was a little surprised to hear him ask her a question about something as trivial as food. Ever since they'd been assigned to go undercover, Keith had been quiet. Mostly stating facts here and there when he was expected to speak. Granted, he wasn't really a chatterbox to begin with, so Lily didn't worry about it too much. Shaking away any lingering distractions, she answered him.

"Uhh, yeah. I'll just have the same.." Picking up the phone, she dialed the number provided.

"Good evening. This is Langdon Lodge dinning. How can we help you?"

"Yes, hello. Me and... my.. boyfriend are staying in cabin 8 and would like to order room service." Lily stumbled over her sentence, and mentally kicked herself for it. _Nice, you idiot._

If the young man on the phone noticed anything suspicious, he didn't mention it. Lily gave him their orders and added a cake in too. If she wasn't paying for it, she might as well go all out, right?

"Ok. That'll be delivered in about twenty to thirty minutes to cabin 8," the waiter confirmed.

"Fantastic! Thanks so much," Lily answered, a little too excited at the thought of some fancy food. She hung up the phone and stood up. Maybe unpacking what little luggage she had would distract her from the food until it actually arrived.

She grabbed her bags and headed upstairs, hearing Keith presumably doing the same. Noticing there was only one dresser in the bedroom, Lily decided to take the left side and left Keith with the drawers on the right. It was a relatively calming process. At least it gave her a little time to think about everything.

She was only a little hesitant unpacking her bra and underwear, but decided that it shouldn't even be that big of a deal. Keith wore underwear too. Or at least she assumed he did. Freeing herself of all thoughts underwear, specifically Keith's underwear, she noticed the devil himself start to unpack beside her. They worked in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. With Keith, Lily always felt comfortable. Sometimes a little too much so.

She shut her drawers once she was finished and went back downstairs. She sat down on the love seat and at least tried to mentally prepare herself for all this. The whole thing had been really sudden so she hasn't had the time to fully process everything this mission has thrown at them so far. She was going to basically be living with Keith for at least a couple weeks. It could even turn out to be longer than that for all she knew.

_When we get back, I'm going to kill Eric myself._

Now, Lily wasnt completely ignorant when it came to the male population. She had grown up in a house with her father and brother so she was fully aware of their not-so-subtle differences. For example, Lily had lost count of the number of times she had fallen into the toilet in the middle of the night when her brother had forgotten to flip the seat back down after he was done. So she was definitely familiar, although not quite accepting, of these mannerisms.

But Keith was completely different from anybody else she'd ever met. Not bad different. Just different. She wasn't entirely sure how to deal with him yet. Sometimes, he could be really sweet and considerate, but other times he could be extremely hard to handle. Lily still wasn't completely confident in how to handle either of those sides of Keith. She always got so riled up when it came to him. She really didn't understand why.

Hearing him come down the stairs, she tried to clear her mind. She saw some old DVD cases and decided she had nothing else to do but to look through them. Maybe find a decent movie hidden in there somewhere. Every movie they had was either a cheesy romantic comedy or an equally cheesy slasher film. Not finding any diamonds in the rough, she finally settled on one of the slasher films and sat back down.

Before they started the movie, their food arrived. Both grateful and hungry, they took their food and sat down together at the small dining table and dug in. Lily could melt with how good it was. Like really, this was a five star spot for a reason. And she hadn't even tried the cake yet. Grabbing the rest of the champagne, Lily poured them each another glass. "Here's to good food," Lily grumbled before drinking half her glass.

When they finished eating, they left the plates and silverware outside the door as instructed for someone to pick them up. Tummies full and exhaustion slowly creeping in, they both settled into the small sofa. Lily made herself comfortable and pressed play. Keith was stationed on the other cushion, flipping through the pages of his book. He had, unsurprisingly, brought quite a few of his books along. So while he sat there and read, Lily was forced to pay attention to the B-rate movie that was playing. That was until she was so bored with it, her eyelids started to feel heavy. After falling asleep sitting up several times, Keith finally spoke up.

"Lily, if you're that tired go upstairs. You can have the bed, so just go get some sleep before you end up breaking your own neck."

Excusing herself to the bedroom for some well deserved rest, she silently thanked Keith.

When she made it upstairs, she quickly changed into her pajamas and slid under the soft sheets and heavy blanket. A minute later she realized something. Getting up and checking the closet for extra sheets and blankets, she set to work making up the couch for Keith. It was really the least she could do seeing as how he gave her the bed wothout any fuss. Finished, she got back into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Keith stayed downstairs for a while, not wanting to disturb Lily with the light on while he read. Although, if he was being completely honest with himself, he would admit that he was nervous about sharing a room. Hell, he was nervous about this entire thing. Being in such close quarters with Lily was terrifying to him. He liked living alone. He liked his personal space. He liked not being judged silently for staying up at all hours of the night. Most of all, he liked his privacy.

But oddly enough, none of those things are the reason for his hesitancy. He couldn't quite form it into words, this feeling he got when Lily was around. At first, he thought it had to do with Erika. But the more time he spent with Lily, he realized the two couldn't have been any less alike. Where Erika had been soft-spoken and reserved, Lily was like a wildfire. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind, even to superior officers, and that was something Keith knew he liked about her from the beginning.

Contrary to popular belief, Keith had never really associated Lily with Erika. He couldn't really understand why Boris did. Sure, they looked similar and neither of them were afraid to tell him off, but that was about as far as the similarities went. Besides, Lily tells everyone off, not just him. Although, she does get particularly enthusiastic when its him she's yelling at.

Getting a little drowsy himself, he decided to mark his stopping point and head upstairs. When he got to the bedroom, he heard Lily's soft snoring. At least it wasn't very loud, which was a welcome difference from her entire personality. He noticed she made the couch for him to sleep on and was a bit surprised. Lily could be sweet and thoughtful when she wanted to be, but that was not very often.

"Hey, buddy. The buns are mine. Hands off." Great. It looks like he'll have to deal with her sleep-talking as well then. Smiling a bit as he walked over, he pulled her blankets up to her chin and grabbed his night clothes. Going into the bathroom, he changed into his black sweatpants and an old t-shirt.

Sliding into his makeshift bed, he tried his best to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I know Keith is a little OOC, but I need him to be at least a little mushy when it comes to Lily. That might just be because I'm KeithxLily trash tho... Don't @ me..
> 
> BUT, if any of you have any questions/ideas/suggestions that you want to tell me, I'd love to hear them! 
> 
> My tumblr is @kaciepickard if you want to yell at me on there!
> 
> Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! If you've made it this far, I just want to take a second and thank you you for sticking with me so far. This is actually my first fic, and I’m honestly already surprised at every view and kudos I’ve received! xD  
> It means the world to me!

When Lily woke up, she found that she had to remind herself where she was. _Langdon Lodge. With Keith._ Speaking of, she spotted him passed out on the too small couch in the corner of the room, feet dangling off the edge. Ah. He must've come up at some point while she was asleep.

The sight was actually kind of adorable to look at if she was being honest. A scruffy, grumpy man was asleep on a couch that was a bit too small for him, clothes rumpled, and an arm tossed over his eyes to block what little sun was coming in through the blinds. Yep. Adorable.

Who knew Keith could ever look so innocent. It kind of made her wish that he would show this vulnerability to her more often. He always handled things by himself, never letting her help. It pissed her off to no end that he couldn't just lean on her the slightest bit, but Lily supposed he wouldn't be Keith otherwise, the stubborn ass.

Before she could have anymore thoughts of Keith, she sat up and stretched. They would have to jump right into it today, seeing as how they didn’t know when each guest was leaving and they didn't want to miss anyone. Maybe they could bribe Kaela to hack their reservation system to make things a bit easier.

Standing up and heading to the bathroom for a sorely needed shower, she decided not to wake Keith. She had no idea how late he was up last night, but judging by his bookmark sticking out of the end of his book, it was pretty late. Besides, she knew he could use the sleep. That man really doesn't know how to take very good care of himself.

Walking into the bathroom, she quickly undressed, and after 15 minutes of swearing and frustration, she finally got the damn water to run.

When she finished with her shower, she changed into her clothes and went back to the bedroom. It seemed Keith was already up and about since she didn't see him in his makeshift bed. She was ready to head downstairs when her phone started ringing. Think of the devil, and she shall come ringing.

“Hey, Kaela. What’s up?”

“Hey, Mrs. Flick! When's the wedding?”

“Kaela,” Lily interrupted, “If you _ever_ call me that again, I will dump multiple water bottles all over your precious computers.”

Kaela only laughed. “Calm down, you hot head. It was just a joke. Anyway, I was calling to check in. Did everything go smoothly?”

“So far so good,” Lily grumbled. She wasn’t so sure that she liked everyone in the office knowing that her and Keith had to pretend to basically be in love. She just knew they would have some smart-ass comment about it. At least, if they solve the case things can go back to normal. Or as normal as you could expect with their team.

“Good. Eric wanted me to call ahead of time and let you know to keep your phones on you. The medical examiner and the forensics lab should be calling you with more information about the scene.”

“Awesome. The sooner we get this whole thing solved the better. Which reminds me, is there anyway you could get us a list of all the guests staying here and when they're planning on leaving? Like hack into the lodge's system or something?”

“Of course I can. Who do you think you’re talking to? I’ll email it to you this afternoon.” Lily heard various clicking and typing, indicating she had, most likely, already started.

“Thanks, Kaela. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You know, as much as I called about the assignment, I called to see how you were doing with all of this.” Kaela sounded genuinely concerned, which naturally unnerved Lily. Kaela was never genuine about anything, unless it was serious.

Lily didn’t really know what to say, so instead she asked, “Why would I not be okay?”

“Please, Lily. Even if you won’t admit it out loud, I know your dirty little secret.”

“..And what secret is that, exactly?” About a hundred different things popped into Lily’s head, but none that Kaela would know of, or even care about. So what is she talking about?

“Come on, Lily. I know you like Keith.” Kaela smirked, Lily could practically hear it through the phone. “It’s likely I’m not the only one either.”

She thinks I like Keith?!

“I do not like Keith! What the hell are you even talking about?!” Lily sighed and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down or else Keith might hear and get the wrong idea. "I swear ever since the whole acting like Erika thing, everyone’s been tiptoeing around me and Keith. For the love of God! I was acting! I don’t have those kinds of feelings for Keith! Of course I look up to him. He’s basically a freaking genius when it comes to investigating! That doesn’t mean I like him for crying out loud!"

“Okay, okay,” Kaela relented. “If that’s how you want to play it, fine by me, but when you move past the stage of denial, I’ll be here.” Lily never wanted to jump through a phone and strangle someone so much in her life. “And who knows, I might not even say I told you so,” and with that she hung up.

 _What the hell is she smoking to think I have a crush on Keith?! Crazy hag must’ve already had one too many this morning,_ Lily thought as she tried not to violently shove her dirty clothes into the hamper. Key word is tried.

Finally having convinced herself to go downstairs, the first thing she noticed was the smell. Food. That was enough to make her forget about the phone call. When, she got to the kitchen, she saw the room service containers and silently thanked anyone listening that Keith had thought to order breakfast. He looked like he was making coffee, so she spoke up, trying not to let Kaela get under her skin. “Morning, Keith.”

He grunted in greeting. Lily felt her mood slip just a bit. He could’ve at least said good morning back, the old grump. “What was all the noise just now?” Of course, he had heard. Lily couldn’t catch a break apparently.

“Kaela,” Lily grumbled before walking over to the table and sitting down, the rest of her good mood fading.

“Mm,” Keith grunted as if that single word explained everything. It sort of did if Lily thought about it.

“She called to tell us to keep our phones on because forensics is supposed to call us with more information on the case,” Lily added. She honestly just wanted something to say so it didn’t get too awkward. She should’ve known better really, seeing as how Keith didn’t reply. He was content to just sit in silence.

Bringing the fresh coffee over with him, he sat down and poured them both a cup. Lily went straight for the food, any thoughts of talking thrown out the window.

When they were both done and cleaning up, she broke the silence. “So, did you have any ideas on how to get these people to actually talk to us?”

“Not really.” He finished packing the last of the dishes and continued, “Thought we would just go to the main lodge and try to strike up a conversation with someone.”

Lily thought for a moment before she laughed. “Oh yeah. You're a natural conversationalist, Keith.” She couldn't resist any chance to tease him, so she added, “Most of the people staying here are old so I guess you'll have something in common with them, eh Keith?” she said, nudging him. "You could strike up a conversation about reading glasses," Lily said, laughing.

Keith grunted in indifference and went upstairs to shower, leaving Lily to brood over her wasted joke.

What crawled up his butt and died?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I know I said that there would be smut, but I’m honestly not entirely confident in my writing yet. I’m thinking I will still keep everything as planned, and then when i get to it, I’ll decide if I want to write it or not… Ugh idk  
> Anyway! As always, tell me what you thought! :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> So I'm sorry about the delay on this chapter. A lot of family stuff happened and it was a bit of a mess. Anyway, I've been working on some art for this story in what free time I did have! I'll post the link as soon as I actually make a post.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Walking into the restaurant, they noticed a large table set up for some older couples to play cards. It seemed as good a place to start as any so they might as well get started.

Lily leaned into Keith a bit to whisper, “So what’s step two in your genius plan?”

“Introduce ourselves?” keith shrugged, looking unsure of his own proposal.

“Won't that seem a little too suspicious?” Lily echoed his own thoughts.

“Like you so delicately pointed out this morning, they are older, so they will likely think we’re just chatty people. It shouldn't be too hard to convince them of that with you here.” He smirked and started walking towards the table.

“I'm not sure that was a compliment, but I'm taking it as one anyway,” Lily muttered as she caught up with him. Together, they made their way over to the group.

“Um, hello. How are you guys this morning?” Lily figured she may as well be the one doing the talking considering Keith wasn't very social.

At the sound of her voice, most of the older people looked up from their game to see who had spoken.

A kind-looking woman with curling white hair and a round face smiled at Lily. “Fine, dear. And yourselves?” The woman stood, reaching over to shake Lily's hand.

“Oh, we're doing well. Thank you.” Lily was surprised at how easily this woman had accepted the interruption. Going with the momentum of the conversation, she continued, “I was just telling Keith here that we needed to introduce ourselves. It seems we'll be staying here for a bit and I really would love to get to know everybody”

Lily was more confident in their plan now than she was earlier. She knew most older people tended to really like her when she was this cheerful, and it seems to have worked a little already.

“That's wonderful, dear. We can never have too many friends. Especially at our age.” The woman smiled and patted the table. “Would you two like to join us?”

“We're playing couple’s poker.” Another woman, around the same age as the first, spoke up. She had longer, brownish-silver hair, and she reminded Lily of her own grandmother. The one on her father's side.

“Oh ok” That was actually a lot easier than expected.

“I suppose we should introduce ourselves.” The white-haired woman spoke as they both sat down. “I'm Stella.” She then pointed to the man sitting beside her who looked to be a bit older, but was still smiling kindly. “This is my husband, Leo. That's his brother, Oliver.”

That must've been the man sitting next to Leo. He had a bit of a sour look on his face, but Lily saw the small smile he gave to the woman on his arm when she was next in line for introductions. “Over there is his wife, Hazel“ Now that was a bit surprising. She had to be the youngest one there, excluding her and Keith, by at least 10-15 years. She had barely any gray in her light brown hair, and even less wrinkles on her face.

That left only two people unintroduced. “I'm Adeline, and this is my husband, William. We're celebrating our 43rd anniversary.” She smiled directly at Lily, encouraging her to continue the trend.

“It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Lily. And this is Keith. We're actually celebrating our anniversary as well. Although, we're not married. Just dating,” she chuckled awkwardly. This wasn't going to get any less weird with time, she just knew it.

“How many years?” Adeline leaned in, interested.

“Just one,” Lily responded shyly. She didn't really like lying to them since they all seemed so sweet.

“Oh my! You lovebirds are still in the honeymoon phase!” Stella cut in excitedly. “How did you two meet?”

“Oh I bet it's a lovely story,” Hazel spoke for the first time, presumably wanting to hear said story.

“Oh, uh, it's not that great. Trust me, it's not really worth your time.” Now Lily was incredibly nervous. They hadn't thought to come up with a backstory this morning, and now it was too late to coordinate. She'd just have to figure something out.

“Nonsense! Now you have to tell us,” Lily was starting to really like these women, but with Stella’s command, she was beginning to regret speaking to them just the smallest bit.

“Well…” She had to come up with something. Anything. She had no idea what the hell to say in order to not blow their cover, so she did the first thing that came to mind. Throw Keith under the bus. “Why don't I let Keith tell it? He's barely said a word this entire time.” That's what he gets for being an ass this morning anyway.

“That sounds like a great idea.” Oliver chimed in. “How did you two meet, Keith?”

Keith looked at Lily as though he wanted nothing more than to shoot her right here. She really didn't doubt it. These people were merciless when it came to romance it seemed. Or rather what they thought was one.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to think of something, but then decided to tell as much of the truth as possible. Of course, he'd have to fill in a few fabrications on the romance part, but that shouldn't be that hard. “Well, we do work together.”

“What do you two do?”

This could be tricky. “We investigate crimes. Mostly serial killers that need to be caught quickly.”

“Oh that's sounds so interesting! I would have loved to do something similar, but sadly I don't think I would've had the stomach for it.” Adeline was smiling, if a bit weary of the following story.

At least no one seemed to be suspicious of them yet. So far so good I suppose. “It does get a bit taxing at times, but I guess that's why we all need a vacation every now and again.” Lily winked at the group and slid her arm through his, signalling him to continue. “Right, Keith?”

Clearing his throat and willing his blush down, he proceeded. “Yes. Well, I had a few friends on the same team as Lily, and they invited me to work on an ongoing case with them.” he smirked a bit. He couldn't resist a chance to mess with Lily, so he continued. “I showed up to the crime scene and this one tried to kick me out.”

Not missing a beat, Lily replied, “In my defense, you looked like a homeless drunkard!” She pouted and smacked his arm, to which he smirked at her fondly before regaining his indifferent attitude and continuing his story.

“Yeah, I suppose I did look pretty bad that day.” He turned and faced the table once again. “I was on desk duty for a few years before that. My first field case in a while and I have this girl come up to me at the crime scene eating a red bean bun, and yelling at me to leave,” he laughed, reminiscing. “Hell of a way to meet your new teammate.”

“Yeah, well, most people shave their face before meeting an entire squad of new colleagues. It's not my fault you didn't prepare.”

Their audience laughed at that. Stella even throwing in a high five to Lily, which she claimed proudly.

“So what made you two fall in love?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as always, tell me what you thought! All feedback is welcome and appreciated! :)  
> Feel free to heckle me on social media!  
> Tumblr: Kaciepickard  
> Instagram: innocent-tailor


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I know I've been pretty inconsistent about updating, and I'm really trying to get better at that, but my work schedule is super inconsistent so that doesn't help. All I can say is, I hope to be better with it in the future :/

“So what made you two fall in love?” Adeline asked suddenly “I mean I can see you two have the chemistry, but what was it that sent you both over the edge?”

Both Keith and Lily were stunned and a bit embarrassed at the question. What could they possibly say to that? Lily barely had any time to think before Keith abruptly spoke. Foolish as she was, Lily relaxed slightly, so sure he would find a way out of this for both of them.

“Since I told the story of us meeting, I'm sure Lily wouldn't mind going first this time.” Should've known better really. Of course he was going to feed her to the wolves. This is Keith we're talking about.

Between opening and closing her mouth trying to stammer out a response, Lily glared daggers at Keith. “Uhh. Well, I'm not really one hundred percent sure. I mean, he is practically a genius, so there's that.” She laughed awkwardly, seeing all eyes were on her. A few chuckles let her know that her little dig hadn't gone unappreciated. _Alright, time to think of something to say. Can't go wrong with the truth, I suppose. Or as much of it as I can get away with._ She amended.

She sighed and decided to dive head first into it, too late to change her mind or retreat. “He's really freaking stubborn. It makes me want to punch him right in his smug face sometimes.” She could feel Keith's questioning gaze on her, but she refused to look at him. If she did, she wouldn't be able to finish what she started. Sighing, she continued, “But he's rarely ever wrong when it comes to his instincts. Even I'll admit, he kind of deserves to act cocky at this point.”

She did glance at him then, almost missing the astonished expression on his face. She would've smirked if she wasn't still in the spotlight. Clearing her throat, she continued with a steady voice.

“You wouldn't really expect him to be, but he's actually really sweet. One time, I went to his apartment out of the blue, and I practically demanded he help me with the case We were working on. I could tell he didn't want me there at all, and he even said so himself. Multiple times,” Lily laughed to herself. “But even after I forced my way into his apartment, he still made me dinner and coffee.” She smiled, thinking back. “Although, most of it spilled on the floor when our co worker busted down Keith's door.” She took a second to laugh, remembering the events of that evening. Seeing confused faces staring back at her, she thought she'd better elaborate. “Our coworker was convinced Keith was trying to take advantage of me or something. He broke down the door and saw me on top of Keith, which only happened because genius here slipped and fell on some soup he himself spilled. Anyway, he freaked out and accidentally invited almost our entire squad to a drinking party at Keith's apartment.”

“Oh my goodness!” Stella laughed, gripping Leo's arm for support. “That is quite an interesting story to tell your kids someday I suppose.” The rest of the group was laughing no less than she was and it took them a couple minutes to regain their composure.

When the last of the giggles did die out, Hazel gestured for her to continue.

She grew serious, thinking of things to say so she could finally be done with this. “I mean if I had to pick one thing that drew me to him, it would have to be his honesty. Sometimes he can be a little too blunt, but I know I can trust him… Actually, I think I trust him more than I have ever trusted anybody else in my life. He has saved me more than once, and I don't think I could ever find it in me to not trust him.”

She peeked at Keith through her bangs, hiding her own face. He was looking at her with something along the lines of awe. She didn't miss the blush rising on his cheeks, but she did choose to ignore it.

“Trust is the most important thing in a relationship I always say.” Stella clapped her hands together, effectively snapping them both back to reality.

Lily was so embarrassed. Of course she admired Keith, but she didn't really want him to know all of what she just said. He'd never let her live it down if he knew just how deep that trust went. Lily was hesitant to acknowledge that fact herself.

“Trust is a strong foundation,” Oliver said suddenly.

“I suppose it's your turn, Keith,” Adeline reminded.

“Yeah. Um, where do I start?” He paused for a moment, regaining his composure. She was acting, he told himself. _Don't read too much into it_. "I trust her too. I truly consider her a partner. -an equal," He amended.

“But, I guess the thing I like most about Lily would have to be her strength.” He paused, scratching his head as he tried to collect his thoughts. “She might not look very physically strong, but I can tell you that most people would've ended up emotionally broken if they were put through what she has been. Honestly, sometimes I can't believe she's still as loud and confident as she is now. It's actually kind of amazing. She's so upbeat all the time. I can barely keep up.” He chuckled, trying his best to ignore the eyes on him. He could already feel warmth creeping up into his face. _Better make this quick then_.

“I mean, it can be annoying as all hell, but in our line of work, more often than not we could use some positivity. I know I'm not the only one on our team that appreciates it either.” He did finally look over at Lily, only to find her eyes were searching his again. Not being able to completely look away, he gave her a glimpse of emotion he probably wasn't ready to let her have.

“It probably doesn't hurt that she's such a cute little thing, does it?” Stella had a knowing smirk on her face, directed right at Keith. He felt his entire face flare up and at the smug look in her eyes, he knew she had gotten what she wanted. Damn all these old women.

Clearing his throat and trying to compose himself, he finished, “No I suppose it doesn't.” There was a small gasp and as he looked over at Lily, he was surprised to see a blush that rivaled his own. Interesting.

“Well, now that we got all the mushy stuff out of the way, what do you say we gentleman head over to the balcony and leave the ladies to gossip?” Leo’s strong voice carried over the table snapping the younger two out of their daze.

The older men stood one by one, each giving their wives a small kiss goodbye. Taking this as his cue to leave and maybe start asking the men some questions about the case, Keith stood.

“Well, I guess I’ll be going then too.Thank you, ladies, for the game and conversation.” Keith nodded to the women still seated before turning and walking a few steps.

“What? The young lady doesn’t get a kiss goodbye?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really REALLY appreciate everyone's comments and kudos! They kind of show me that people are still interested in this hot mess. As always, tell me what you thought and feel free to correct any mistakes! I'm still learning! :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to me screaming!  
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> OK now back to our regularly scheduled nonsense! :) (ok maybe not regularly scheduled bc my updating has been hottible but you get the point)

“What? The young lady doesn’t get a kiss goodbye?” Stella certainly was on a roll today. She even had the audacity to sound personally offended. Not that Keith hated her per say. She was just making this whole thing really hard for him.

“Shame on you, sir,” Hazel joked.

They both sat frozen before Lily sighed. She just knew something like this would come up sooner or later. Lifting her chin, she angled her cheek towards him, hoping he would get the message.

Thankfully he did. Keith leaned down quickly, and kissed her cheek. Not wasting any time to pull away and turn to leave once more.

“Oh no, honey! A real kiss!”

“Come on, let’s see a good one!”

These crazy old women were going to kill them by the time this is over. If they didn't need to question them, Lily would have left already.

Lily tried to reason with them. “Uh, that’s okay. He’s not big on public affection so-”

“Nonsense!” The woman interrupted Lily without a second thought. “It’s just us old ladies here now!”

“Yeah, let us live a little vicariously through you young ones!”

“We don’t get much excitement in our dull old lives. The least you could do is remind us of the passions of our youth.”

They really didn’t want to take no for an answer, it seemed. Not really having many other options, Lily accepted whatever Keith would want to do here. She didn't want to push him,but she couldn't let valuable information slip away at this point in the investigation. She figured he might be worried about her sensibilities or some other such nonsense, but the thought of kissing him didn't bother her nearly as much as she thought it would.

Lily looked at Keith, eyes questioning whether he was okay with this. His entire face was crimson. Big surprise there, Keith. He didn’t look like he was going to do anything other than sit there and suck in oxygen. The women were all staring at the both of them now, and Lily was officially panicking.

 _Screw it._ Grabbing him by his shirt, Lily yanked him down and kissed him square on the mouth. It wasn't exactly a good kiss considering she screwed up the angle in her haste. It resulted in teeth digging uncomfortably into the inside of her lip and their noses squished together.

Despite the slight awkwardness, she imagined one little kiss wouldn't hurt anybody, least of all Keith.

So why wasn’t he responding at all?

_Great! I bet he’s totally going to hate me for this later. Why the hell did I even do that?!_

Pulling away, thoroughly embarrassed, she felt his hand curl around her jaw, immediately bringing her back. He was kissing her now, and this time it left her breathless. No awkward angles or bumping noses. Just soft lips dragging and pressing at all the right spots.

Her brain could hardly catch up. She softened in his grip after a second or two, and finally kissed him back. She could feel his stubble tickling her cheeks, his hand playing with the tiny hairs at the back of her neck, and even his soft exhales through his nose.

He tasted like their shared breakfast, and for whatever reason the thought made her happy.

_Oh my god. I’m actually kissing him. I'm kissing Keith right now?!_

He didn't hesitate to wind his fingers through her hair gently, effectively clearing her head of all rational thought. Getting lost in the heat of this moment, Lily gripped his shirt a little tighter and brought them that much closer. It seemed she wasn’t the only one because a few seconds later, she felt his arm slide around her waist and pull her directly against him. Gasping a bit, she brought her own hands up and wrapped them around his neck, pushing them closer still.

Hearing him groan from the back of this throat, she tried to get ahold of herself before things got too out of hand. They really only needed to kiss each other goodbye quickly, yet here they were practically making out in front of an audience.

Which they honestly could have forgotten about, had they not all been cheering and clapping at this point. Flushing as they pulled away from each other, Lily caught a glimpse of the darkened shade of his eyes and couldn't help but think hers must look similar, if not the same. Catching her breath, she watched as Keith immediately turned to leave. She could see his red ears from across the room and couldn't help the spike of satisfaction that briefly ran through her at the sight.

He's embarrassed. Or mad. _Great, I really should have thought this through._

Sighing, she turned around to face the ladies at the table only to feel pressure at her mouth. When did I start touching my lips? She forcefully brought her hand to her side and sat down.

“Oh my! If me and my first husband kissed like that, we would still be together.”

The ladies laughed, and Lily gradually joined in. She needed to set everything else aside for now and focus on the investigation.

“It seems like you two have it all figured out, huh?”

“Oh not at all. We still have a long way to go.” Lily laughed nervously. _You have no idea._

Getting back on track, Lily decided to ease into talking about the incident. “Honestly, we weren’t too sure about staying here for our anniversary. We heard about what had happened.”

“Scary, isn’t it?” Hazel said as she and the other ladies got out what looked to be chopsticks, but after they pulled out the yarn Lily knew the ladies would be knitting.

“It’s such a shame. Me and my husband come here every winter. We’ve known of the Mannings for awhile.” Adeline said as she handed Lily a spare set of knitting needles and some yarn.

“They seemed like such nice people. Not the type for this sort of scandal.” Hazel noticed Lily struggling to get started, but didn't bring it up.

Feigning ignorance, Lily spoke up. “Scandal? I didn’t hear anything about a scandal.” After another failed attempt to get started, she finally admitted, “Um, I actually don't really know how to knit.”

“It’s rumored that Beth was cheating on David, so he threw her in the lake.” Stella spoke bluntly, “And honey, no worries. We can teach you.”

“That’s just a rumor now. Don't think too much about it and just enjoy your anniversary, dear. Don't let all this hearsay spook you or anything. This is a perfectly safe place to stay.

“Well, if you ask me they never did seem too fond of each other, The Mannings,” Stella mumbled as she started to continue with what looked like a half finished hat.

“Stella!” Adeline admonished, setting to work on her own project. A shoulder bag by the looks of it.

“What? I'm just saying that I've met all kinds of couples and I’m pretty good at telling whether they love each other or not. And those two looked more like friends to me.”

Huh. Maybe this was going somewhere after all.

“Still. Such things should be left alone, Stella.” Hazel was busy knitting a set of booties. “Now, did you see the new waiter? I think it's Mark and Angela's boy.”

And so the morning went, gossiping with Stella, Hazel, and Adeline, while they quietly tried to teach her how to knit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has read this story! I really appreciate the continued support, and I look forward to posting more often in the future! As always, let me know what you thought!

**Author's Note:**

> I may still edit this along the way, so I'm sorry if that messes anybody up. I can't leave things alone.


End file.
